A Tedenby-Josefson-Butler line would look amazing. Maybe I'm giving him too much credit here, but I think Josefson's at the level now that he can make a guy like Tedenby or Butler better around him. Curious to see what kind of year he has!!

Like many others have said this will prob be make or break year for Tedenby. However I honestly do not see him making it.

The Devils were an all but forgotten team in the Atlantic heading into last season, but hung tough all year and finished sixth in the Eastern Conference.And that's when the real fun started. New Jersey knocked off the Panthers, Flyers, and Rangers to reach the Stanley Cup Final before falling to the Los Angeles Kings.The summer was not nearly as kind to the Devils, however. With ownership questions still prevalent, New Jersey lost top forward Zach Parise to an exorbitant free agent deal.The question in Jersey now is how to replace Parise's productivity and leadership and whether they can do it before the window closes on their veterans - namely goalie Martin Brodeur.

I will make this pledge. I will not bitch about dressing 1 goon - this is the unfortunate way of the NHL, that even though having a goon doesn't seem to make any sense at all, teams have decided they need one.

I will however bitch about players like Tim Sestito ever being on the roster. Or Brad Mills. Stephen Gionta I barely tolerate. These players do not belong in the NHL and turn a 4th line into a sinkhole. I will also not tolerate 2 goons being dressed unless the other team does same.

The 4th line didn't score a goal until like, game 78 last year. They weren't on ice for One. Goal. That's totally unacceptable, and it's basically happened 2 years in a row now. It's hard and maybe undesirable to have a great 4th line, but you can definitely do better than New Jersey's done. Rod Pelley was a minimum salary player and was bad, but so was Dean McAmmond and McAmmond was great.

Excuse me, but I do believe that Janssen accidentally assisted on a Sykora goal earlier than game 78. However, I don't recall the rest of the 4th line being present on the ice at the time.

It is absurd the amount of people that think Butler should be placed on the 3rd line. At this point I really feel like people on this board are seeing others put him on the first line, and are just agreeing to agree because there's no way that many of you actually think he belongs there.

No, it's not smart. He's a talented llayer but f anything, he'll work his way up the lines but has got to be considered on the third line. We need help from outside on that first line.. Otherwise move someone up from the top 6 or 9

It is absurd the amount of people that think Butler should be placed on the 3rd line. At this point I really feel like people on this board are seeing others put him on the first line, and are just agreeing to agree because there's no way that many of you actually think he belongs there.

No, it's not smart. He's a talented llayer but f anything, he'll work his way up the lines but has got to be considered on the third line. We need help from outside on that first line.. Otherwise move someone up from the top 6 or 9

I'm one of the posters that keeps on saying that he will be on the first two lines. I really dont think he belongs there but in my opinion he will be. Lou will stick to his word (look up what he said after the signing of Butler if you havent read it) and I will not be surprised at all if he plays along side Zajac or Elias for the first couple of games, even if he doesn't belong there.

It is absurd the amount of people that think Butler should be placed on the 3rd line. At this point I really feel like people on this board are seeing others put him on the first line, and are just agreeing to agree because there's no way that many of you actually think he belongs there.

No, it's not smart. He's a talented llayer but f anything, he'll work his way up the lines but has got to be considered on the third line. We need help from outside on that first line.. Otherwise move someone up from the top 6 or 9

I'm assuming you meant to type 1st line where you typed 3rd line in the first sentence. I don't think anyone wants to have Butler as the 1st line RW but given the bare depth chart and his skill set it makes some sense. Plus he's been heating up in Albany.

Anyway, I think it could be a move for him to hold a spot until Henrique is back. Then they could go with a top 6 along the lines of:

Kovalchuk-Zajac-ZubrusHenrique-Elias-Clarkson/Butler

Sometimes I feel like people assume that all players on the 1st line have to be stars or close to it. Let's not forget that in recent years that players like Palmieri and Vasyunov skated in that spot next to Kovalchuk and Zajac, and Marshall was the 1st line RW alongside Elias and Gomez in the 2003 Cup run.

I'm still hoping Lou moves a Dman for some forward help.

0

RIP Pat Burns -- RIP Alexander Vasyunov and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Winner of the 2008 Sergei Brylin Award for Most Underrated Poster
Co-Winner of the 2011 Scott Bertoli Award for Best Minor League Poster, Winner of the 2012 Scott Bertoli Award

It is absurd the amount of people that think Butler should be placed on the 3rd line. At this point I really feel like people on this board are seeing others put him on the first line, and are just agreeing to agree because there's no way that many of you actually think he belongs there.

No, it's not smart. He's a talented llayer but f anything, he'll work his way up the lines but has got to be considered on the third line. We need help from outside on that first line.. Otherwise move someone up from the top 6 or 9

Its between him and Zubrus. There's no one else to put there, and like feisty said, it doesn't always have to be 3 stars on the first line.

0

Official NJDevs.com Keeper of Gory Corey Schwab, Mike Peluso, Troy Crowder, Jeff Frazee, and Rich Shulmistra."The Devils are that zombie that takes an ax to the skull, a bullet to the temple and is set on fire … and yet keeps lumbering along to the annoyance of all the other zombies." - Puck Daddy

If Kovy stays in Russia #suckforseth. Two sure fire studs on the blueline would be incredible

With our absolute dearth of offensive playmakers in the system, and the strength of our blueline prospects (Larsson, Urbom, Merrill, Gelinas), I would think the Devils would draft a player like MacKinnon or Drouin #1 over Jones. Hopefully we never have to find out which way they will go in that scenario.

The more I see the more I think you will see Sykora back this year if only to give us depth and I think Lou picks up one or two small parts via trade/free agency for the 3rd line. Ultimately I am interest to see as we resign free agents and other teams cut people loose to hit next years cap what we are able to pick up or what we let go. This season to me is about quickly becomign a cohesive team and not letting the rags get to the cup.

It is absurd the amount of people that think Butler should be placed on the 3rd line. At this point I really feel like people on this board are seeing others put him on the first line, and are just agreeing to agree because there's no way that many of you actually think he belongs there.

No, it's not smart. He's a talented llayer but f anything, he'll work his way up the lines but has got to be considered on the third line. We need help from outside on that first line.. Otherwise move someone up from the top 6 or 9

In David Clarkson's last season in the minors, he was 22 going on 23. He scored 20 goals in 67 games.

In Bobby Butler's first AHL season he was 23. He scored 22 goals in 47 games.

I'm not saying that Bobby Butler is better than David Clarkson. I don't think that. But there are those players out there who can score but have a hard time generating much for themselves. They can shoot and they know how to get to the scoring areas, but they're not fast enough or good enough with the puck to do it consistently at the NHL level, and they're not very good defensively and not good along the boards. I think Butler is one of these players, and being on a line with Ilya Kovalchuk will open up ice for him that otherwise wouldn't be open. I could see Butler as a guy who scores 20-25 in a good 82 game season.

I also think Sykora is the same sort of player at this stage of his career and that having two of them on the same team is a pretty bad idea.

At the beginning of the season, I would have said NO to Sykora. We have a 50-game season, and Sykora would ABSOLUTELY be an asset down this shortened stretch, a no-brainer if he's even close to capable of what he pulled off last year. My complaint with him last year was he couldn't handle the late-season rigor, which would be a non-issue now that he'd be starting in January.

With Sykora, it all depends on whether or not the Devils think Tedenby or another forward in Albany is ready to make the jump. Clearly, Butler is going to be playing in NJ (he was signed with that intent and his play in the AHL thus far has pretty good), most likely in a top 9 role. That realistically leaves 1 forward roster spot that can be filled through an AHL player, trade, or FA signing like Sykora.

After checking out Bobby Butler in Albany Devs game recaps I think he could definitely fill Sykora's 2nd line PP minutes and shine in the role. But what I really gained was the fact that the Albany Devs announcer is awesome.

0

"I realized from Day 1 the way I played I'd never be a Gretzky or a Lemieux, well, a Mario I mean. I was never going to be a player to get standing ovations in a visitors' building."

That's because they weren't. The first game where the 4th line, meaning the players dressed as the 4th line for that game, scored a goal, was game #79.

I do remember. I just can't have anyone downplaying the great acheivements of Cam Janssen. Ya think Barch can beat his point total this season? Maybe Janssen can turn that bet with Marty into a 3 way pool for most points on the season, lol.